“It’s great to see a number of Irish fintechs achieving global recognition in this way.

“Disruptive fintech companies continue to dominate the Fintech 100, representing strong interest from investors in business models and management teams that are seeking to radically change the financial services industry.

“Capital continues to flow into the fintech sector reflecting investor confidence in the future potential of these technologies.”

The report sees China and the US dominating the Top 10, taking 8 out of the top 10 slots.

Key highlights from the 2017 Fintech 100 include:

China fintechs take the top three places on the list, and Chinese firms account for five of the top 10.

Global fintech innovation continues to accelerate, with 29 different countries represented in the Fintech 100, up from 22 countries in 2016.

ASPAC is on the rise, with 30 fintechs on this year’s list, while the UK and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) dominate the Emerging 50 with 26 companies. The US placed 19 companies on the full list, the most of any country, and three in the top 10.

Lending and payments focused companies continue to lead in terms of sectors, with 32 and 21 respectively on the full list. Fifteen companies are involved in transactions/capital markets and 12 are in insurtech. Four companies are involved in blockchain and digital currencies.

The Fintech 100 were selected following extensive global research and analysis based on data relating to 10 dimensions, including five core factors; Total capital raised, Rate of capital raising, Geographic diversity, Sectoral diversity and X-factor (degree of product, service and business model innovation).

X-factor is a subjective measure that is applied only with respect to companies appearing on the Emerging 50 list.

Two criteria are related to capital raising reflecting the emphasis that venture capital investors place on the ability of firms to innovate in order to generate a long term sustainable competitive advantage.

Other key insights from the 2017 Fintech 100 report:

Aggregate capital raised remains significant — The top 50 companies have raised US$4.8B in the last year alone and over US$27B in aggregate capital over their lifetimes. The `Emerging 50′ have raised over US$600M in the last year and just over US$1B in total, since founding.

Major funding rounds dominate investment — Twelve companies on the Fintech 100 had raisings over US$100M, notably ZhongAn’s US$1.5B raise in conjunction with its recent IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

‘Disruptors’ continue to stand out — Fintechs focused on disrupting technologies continue to dominate, accounting for 73 of the Fintech 100. These are companies that are radically changing their industry paradigm for all players.

Lending and payments lead — The number of lending and payments related businesses continue to stand out in this year’s Fintech 100, with 32 and 21 respectively.

Open banking around the world — Open banking regulation in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia has been a major catalyst for innovation, with 15 companies working in the related areas included on the Fintech 100.

A full list of the Fintech 100 can be found here, along with a downloadable version of the report.